Death in Oz
The subject of Death in Oz has attracted much attention from readers and commentators, with involved discussions as to who can die and under what circumstances. These discussions inevitably turn on the inconsistent indications in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum, and to a lesser degree on materials in the books of his successors as "Royal Historians." In the early Oz books, death certainly exists. The Wicked Witches of the East and West are destroyed; there are fierce and dangerous kalidahs, and Dorothy's life is endangered repeatedly. The Cowardly Lion kills the giant spider in Chapter 21 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Things change when Princess Ozma comes to rule Oz; then, the full potential of Queen Lurline's enchantment, which changed Oz from an ordinary mortal realm to a fairyland, is manifested, and death and sickness retreat, at least from humans and higher animals. The crucial indicator is in The Emerald City of Oz, Chapter 3: :No disease of any sort was ever known among the Ozites, and so no one ever died unless he met with an accident that prevented him from living. The same chapter concedes that there are "Wild People" and "unpleasant things" in the "remote parts of the Land of Oz." Yet most of the country is pacified, including even the kalidahs: :The Kalidahs — beasts with bodies like bears and heads like tigers — had once been fierce and bloodthirsty, but even they were now nearly all tamed, although at times one or another of them would get cross and disagreeable. In The Magic of Oz, Trot and Cap'n Bill are menaced by a kalidah with apparent murderous intent, which could certainly meet the "cross and disagreeable" description. Just what sort of "accident," then, could prevent someone in Oz from living? Still in Emerald City, Chapter 15, Dorothy and Toto confront the Spoon Brigade of Utensia. The spoons assure Dorothy that they could kill Toto with their muskets if the dog attacked them. (They have small muskets, but he's a mall dog; perhaps they are telling the truth.) The indications are that violent death is still possible in Oz. A blue bear chokes to death on a fishbone in The Road to Oz, Chapter 17. Eureka the kitten faces beheading in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, Chapter 19. Mr. Yoop, in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, eats people. The enchantment of Oz does not negate the risk of pain, suffering, and violent death for its inhabitants. Nonetheless, it seems clear that humans can endure extreme conditions, apparently without perishing. In The Scarecrow of Oz, Chapter 10, King Phearse is entombed under heavy stones at the bottom of a pond. In this state, "he was of no more use to himself or the world than if he had died." In the same chapter of the same book, King Kynd is said to have fallen into the bottomless Great Gulf, and was "never seen again...." Pon, who relates these stories, simultaneously asserts that "it is impossible to kill anyone in this land" — but from other evidence he is clearly speaking hyperbolically. (How reliable a reporter is Pon?) References * L. Frank Baum. The Annotated Wizard of Oz. Michael Patrick Hearn, ed. New York, W. W. Norton, 2000. * Robert R. Pattrick. Unexplored Territory in Oz. Kinderhook, IL, The International Wizard of Oz Club, 1990. Category:In-universe articles